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antolius.josipantolis.from.hr · @antolius.josipantolis.from.hr@bridge.neodb.net

Rated Light from Uncommon Stars 8/10

A peculiar mix

I expected more sci-fi elements going into this book. They did appear, but have ended up somewhat overshadowed by everything else.

The blurb describes the book as "Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet", but the story brings in a bunch more. It's a story about being trans, about immigrants, about art, about legacy, about making authentic doughnuts.

I feel 3 things about this book:

1. It's rooted in truth. It's that quality of a book to gut punch you, because you care about its characters, because they reflect a truth about the world.
2. It's cute. This is where it feels closest to the Wayfarers series. It has kindness, and takes time to be silly.
3. It's decidedly down to Earth. This is the part that has taken me aback. I expected more "space stuff", but got surprisingly vivid depiction of California instead.

This book throws a bunch of ideas at you. Many of them could have filled entire novels of their own. Here they end up under-explored. But the throughline is strong enough to tie it all together.

#book

Published 2026-04-29 14:01 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere